Ghana, France must enhance ties in local governance — Ambassador Clavier
The French Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Frederic Clavier, is advocating the strengthening of ties between Ghana and France in the domain of local government administration.
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This, he hopes, will become the next line of greater co-operation between the two countries for their mutual benefit.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic on his last year of duty tour in the country, he disclosed that France was ready to offer expertise on the decentralisation process.
The interview was also to mark France’s National Day which falls tomorrow.
He explained that France had a lot of experience in centralised and decentralised administrations and was more than willing to share its experiences with Ghana as well as learn from it.
Important projects
Ambassador Clavier indicated that France and Ghana were implementing important projects on accountability in central and local administration (SPF Project 2014-2017 with a financial support of 700,000 euros) on higher education.
When it comes to financial support to the development of Ghana, he said: “Most of our aid is channelled through AFD, the French development agency whose mission is to implement development policy.”
He disclosed that through the AFD, which is instrumental in building strong bonds between France and Ghana, France had committed close to 1.3 billion euros over the last 30 years with the actual portfolio representing almost 500million euros.
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Deeper ties
On deeper ties, the French envoy said he was also looking forward to intensified efforts at making French more accessible and attractive to enable Ghana to reap the immense benefits that knowledge of the language offers as it is surrounded by a number of Francophone countries.
Mr Clavier said as part of making Ghanaians feel more comfortable transacting businesses with their francophone counterparts, the Embassy of France in Ghana was stepping up its assistance to students in Ghana to study French.
He said currently the 4,000 students learning French in senior high schools would be doubled to 8,000 in the coming years.
Ghana/France Chamber of Commerce
The French envoy mentioned the creation of the Ghana/France Chamber of Commerce to accelerate economic and trade ties between France and Ghana as a legacy he would cherish.
He also disclosed that currently, more than US$1.2 billion balance of trade exchanges existed between the two countries.
Furthermore, he said there was a fair balance of trade between Ghana and France as Ghana had started exporting oil to France.
Higher Education
Ambassador Clavier said under a Higher Education Agreement, French universities recognised diplomas and certificates of Ghanaian universities and vice versa.
He said the agreement, the first to be signed by France in Africa, could facilitate student mobility from France to Ghana and from Ghana to France.
He disclosed that currently 10 Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) concerning student and teacher mobility, joint research, doctorate school and continuous training had been signed between French and Ghanaian universities.
Open door ties
He said France continued to enjoy open-door relations with Ghana and the two discussed economic and political matters of mutual interests without any inhibitions